Over the years I have toured many college campuses and made appointments to meet with staff members in their architecture departments. As friendly as some of the professors may have been, they told me candidly there were no job opportunities for me as part of their faculty, and of course none of them were paid to help me, and therefore they did not. I did lecture them on SCOD thesis, and they verified that college politics was not in my favor; despite ‘sustainability’ being a popular theory.

While exploring the Maryland University campus again in 2017 for open-house Maryland Day, among my various conversations, I did have a fortunate discussion with quantum physics graduate students and a business school professor, outside of the Science Department. We were talking about particle-wave theory, the split-test experiment, and the question of what observer consciousness, or whether they turned the lights on or off had to do with it.

I congratulated the business professor for being concerned about whether science could account for consciousness; as we have a cross-disciplinary problem of not being able to quantitatively value life-forms and the Eco-system in direct ways that protect our existence from predatory capitalism. He recognized that this problem did indeed exist, and that he “only went into business to make money”, but he was very concerned about getting the scientific establishment to acknowledge that consciousness exists. I defended the students who had volunteered to answer public questions, by telling the business professor that he was “pushing the limits of their knowledge, because science is about conducting quantitative verifiable experiments; and I wish that spirit had a residue that we could measure, but there does not appear to be much evidence that conscious exists apart from biology.”

Our two quests are linked, because monetary currency is mutually agreed upon around the globe, but life and environmental science are often ignored for profits that do not take their worth into account as variables that have economic value. If consciousness cannot be verified, given quantitative worth, and supported in monetary terms, then how can we ever develop Economic Consciousness for Life-forms? Perhaps we can begin with Bio-diversity preservation theories that do not depend on ‘consciousness’. Climate Science is getting ignored currently also, so perhaps corrupt politics or predatory instincts are to blame. On a positive note, I went to the Art Department and explained this problem during another conversation about the value of art and artist income.

Male and Female breasts are beautiful, and we should be less ashamed of them in society. Many rude people enjoy making-fun-of, degrading, and insulting bare breasts. A person showing nudity (even genitals) is not anymore rude than the person that labels them as rude. Nudity is as natural as our bodies are, and clothing is artificial. Protective clothing is certainly useful and good, but so is our freedom to be nude.

Russian and Ukrainian women’s groups (Pussy Riot and Femen) are bold enough to protest the absurdity of laws clearly designed to shame women. Americans need to practice their freedoms more, to help the world to be less oppressive. It is amazing that women in oppressed countries are daring to suffer, and press the boundaries of what the ‘free world’ considers acceptable in public.

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[All models for my art are at least friends of mine, please be respectful of these images.]

Here is a short study of one commercial product whose propaganda greatly affected me as a child. I recall enjoying the deep psychological pleasure that the addition of the bottle (with a small image of a tropical jungle on it) gave me when showering. My mind had been conditioned to imagine spiritually floating through a series of tropical paradise landscapes towards a waterfall for blissful “natural” cleansing. The irony is that no proof is given of the “organic” or “natural” chemicals in the product, and clearly the real under-lying goal is to profit from the economic loss of the consumer (as is the case with typical capitalist corporations).

HERBAL ESSENCE

1972

2015

The more recent commercials are extremely sickly POST-MODERN, playing on their own popularity by exaggerating and exploiting the sexual and “natural” aspects to an insane and self-defeating level. Yes the images are very appealing, but the message has become about declaring “yes we are an amoral company that doesn’t really care about the natural environment, or real communal spirit, or native tribes; but buy our product because you are just as selfish as we are, and the commercial is sexy“.

In fairness, SCOD can credit commercial products like this for exposing how propaganda works to encourage people to adjust their behaviors. SCOD Bog Peeps project was based on this premise, of showing beautiful people in natural ‘paradise’ settings. The difference being that SCOD is truly dedicated to helping people to live WITH-IN Nature.

It isn’t just people with problems, the design of Facebook is dysfunctional.

Facebook is a clever concept, and works ok to connect people from around the World. However there are always many glitches in the programming, unnecessary updates that confuse more than help users, and few options for user control over the format. Many of the important utility icons are stupidly tiny, disproportionate with their function. The feed-streams and advertising are needlessly over animated, which creates loading glitches and mistakes. Facebook is poorly designed and has problems.

Rather than helping artists to make money, they ban the accounts of anyone pushing socially-acceptable boundaries. The best part of Facebook besides the basic operations, might be the easy way in which money transfers work. However there should be more ways for people to make money online, if only the 1% would create some jobs that we could do for them on Facebook (not holding breath). It is very difficult to get attention for personal independent advertising, even when you pay for it; and it is rare to get paying clients through Facebook (in my experience).

Worst of all about the design is that there are many ways to cause problems with other people’s accounts, like accusing them of ‘copyright’ or ‘nudity’ violations; both of which favor mega-corporations rather than individuals; AND no good way to defend the accused against the claims, while the accused are immediately judged and punished without trial (banned from posting, items deleted, threatened that account will be removed, and/or account disabled).

Facebook, as much as any media bound by laws, plays a role in censoring society because so many people use it. Facebook (FB) has chosen to punish people on their own pages for artistic expression, while the company reaps profit from ads. FB is part of the authoritative narrative that maintains that female nipples are obscene, and all human bodies in their natural state should be shamed. Human genitals that are responsible for giving us LIFE itself, are banned; as FB encourages society to continue to consider our sacred parts rude, offensive, and inappropriate for public knowledge or art.

The women of Pussy Riot and Femen are protesting in Europe more shockingly than in America, ironically because they have less freedom and less legal rights. Women in America have become complacent because they have largely bought into the commercial corporate male model of society. Those European martyrs are exposing their vulnerable bodies, shouting with their fragile voices, and putting their spirits in danger because we live in authoritarian state-run societies. Societies (as a whole) in Civilization evolve as cultures change through-out Time, and are influenced by those willing to defy traditions or conventions; often at the expense of their own safety.

The small text size in pop-up screens makes it very difficult to write significant messages to people. FB works best as a simple superficial message sharing commercial service, but it is barely adequate in message functionality, and fails to allow free expression by the user on their own pages. Artists have a difficult enough time in society, without being told they cannot show their own work on their own virtual page if FB or anyone else disapproves of it.

In protest of these problems I am going to start using other platforms more. Perhaps another form of social-media will help citizens to communicate better and share their lives and work without as much commercial intervention. Slowly society will grow and progress towards harmony with Nature and our own natural nudity. Diaspora and blogs seem to be a better way for free expression. Democracy Cannot be Corporate.

1912 – West Virginia Miners strike in Paint Creek and Cabin Creek, and are evicted from their houses; tent colonies are set up.

1913 – The Blue Moose Special train passes through the encampment of Cabin Creek and opens fire on the unarmed inhabitants. A reconciliation between the coal operators and the miners leads to the right to organize in Cabin Creek and Paint Creek.

1919 – An armed march by some 5,000 miners is organized on Lens Creek with the intention of overtaking Logan county and establishing a union. The march was abandoned some days later when the miners learned that federal troops would be sent in.

1920 – Seven Baldwin-Felts detectives, two miners and the Mayor Testerman are killed in the Matewan Massacre. Sid Hatfield, the Chief of Police of Matewan who was involved in the shooting, is charged with the deaths of the detectives.

1921 – Matewan Chief murdered in public. Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers are gunned down on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse by C.E. Lively, a Baldwin-Felts (Pinkerton) detective. Lively is never convicted of the crime.

Though tensions had been simmering for years, the immediate catalyst for the uprising was the unpunished murder of Sid Hatfield, police chief of Matewan, At a rally on August 7, Mother Jones called on the miners to march into Logan and Mingo counties and set up the union by force. Armed men began gathering at Lens Creek, near Marmet in Kanawha County on August 20, and by four days later up to 13,000 had gathered and began marching towards Logan County. Meanwhile, the reviled Sheriff of Logan County, Don Chafin, had begun to set up defenses on Blair Mountain.

The second armed march of the miners took place, with the same intent as the first; to reach Logan County, overthrow the crooked Sheriff Don Chafin and organize a union. What would become known as the Battle of Blair Mountain was composed of some 10,000-15,000 armed miners in total, marching from Lens Creek in Kanawha County, to Logan County, some sixty-five miles away.

The WV Mine Wars end at the Battle of Blair Mountain where Don Chafin and 1,500 men were waiting for the miners. There was sporadic fighting for a week with hundreds of deaths. The miners eventually disbanded when 2,000 troops, aerial forces as well as chemical warfare troops converged at Blair Mountain. The rebellion was forced to surrender, and lay down arms.

The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War, and the largest organized armed uprising in American labor history. It led almost directly to the labor laws currently in effect in the United States of America. It was the final act in a series of violent clashes that have also (confusedly) been termed the Red Neck War, from the color of neck-scarves worn by the miners, and the likely impetus of the common usage (originally Scottish term Red-neck) in the vernacular of the United States.

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During the American Mine Wars of the 1920s, and the period that followed, liberal Union moderates (Democrat Centrists) argued they could produce concrete benefits for workers much sooner than radical Socialists who planned to overthrow capitalism in the future. Left Wing politics began to move right towards Center, as unions negotiated with company bosses; union leaders began to get paid more as they demanded more dues from paychecks, and workers began to see less effective representation.

In the 21st Century, Mayor Kip Stowell of Harpers Ferry, WV and other local liberals and historians voted to preserve the Charles Town Jailhouse. The modern jailhouse building was used to jail General Bill Blizzard, during his trial for ‘Treason’ (armed insurrection terrorism like John Brown). It was scheduled to be demolished by the Republicans in office. The jail was saved by replacing them with Democratic County Commissioners.

In 2005, the West Virginia Archives and History Commission voted unanimously to recommend to the National Park Service that 1,600 acres of Blair Mountain be included on the National Register. Coal mining companies and nearby landowners promptly sued to overturn the nomination. The Sierra Club moved to join the suit, and in May 2006 a West Virginia judge granted the Club’s participation. That same month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the Blair Mountain battlefield on its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Places. The United Mine Workers union also came out in support of the National Register listing because of its importance to the labor movement.

(more research to come….)

Bibliography: When Miners March, by Bill Blizzard; Thunder In The Mountains, by Lon Savage; WV Mine Wars, by David Corbin; Battle of Blair Mountain, by Robert Shogun & Howard Lee